View topic - Bill Mason's locations

Just wondering, does anybody know where Path of the Paddle was filmed? It looks incredible.

I believe Path of the Paddle was filmed in one of Bill's favorite haunts: Lake Superior.
I think the river scenes were shot on the Pukaskwa River, and I know there is some footage of Superior - specifically Old Woman Bay?

I discussed this topic with Becky Mason at last year's Changing of the Seasons Ceremony in Temagami, and she would likely be able to give exact locations: she was present for most of the shoot.

I believe some of the moving water shots were done on Magnetewan ("I don't know...looks a little trickey") and Petawawa. Lake scenes most definitey Superior and Old Woman Bay.

Paul would definitely know as part of that film series....also check out Bill Mason: Wilderness Artist by Ken Buck....online review at http://www.bcbooks.com/billmason_hearttohand.html:

Bill Mason: Wilderness Artist by Ken Buck
Can$39.95

Bill Mason slips his canoe into the early morning calm and it cuts silently through the water, disappearing into the mist … This is not a shot in one of Mason’s famous films—it is just another day of commuting to the office.

Bill Mason: Wilderness Artist is the story of Canada’s most famous canoeing artist. The camera lens and the pallet knife were his instruments. The wild places were his inspiration.

Bill’s first film for the National Film Board of Canada, Paddle to the Sea, won 11 awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film in 1968. His work was nominated again in 1970 in the same category for his documentary Blake. By the mid-1970s Bill had become one of Canada’s most successful documentary filmmakers.

Bill Mason: Wilderness Artist examines Bill’s entire artistic career—his photography, cartoons, books and films. Created with the full cooperation of the Mason family, this book provides insight into a man driven by a passion for nature.

Author KEN BUCK was Bill Mason’s friend and canoeing partner, as well as the man who filmed him in Waterwalker and other films. From the making of Paddle to the Sea and the instructional paddling films, this book tells all.

This book may be out of print....but in many libraries.

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[i]And the paddle, in the water, is a long, lost friend.
There are times I’d like to wander down a river without end,
In a hull of flowing cedar, carved by knowing hands....[/i]
From [i]Shield[/i] by Dave Hadfield

http://reflectionsoutdoors.wordpress.c

Add to the list of places already mentioned, the French River at 18 Mile Island, pretty sure I recognize Blue Chute in some of the footage and also the Pettawawa River, Big Thompson rapid comes to mind.

His ww tandem instruction was on Big Thompson on the Petawawa IIRC.

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Old canoeists never die---they just smell that way.

By the way, "Paddle to the Sea" was just made available on the net by the NFB. It's a movie I could watch over and over again...
http://www.nfb.ca/film/paddle_to_the_sea/?ec=en20110928

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“What is the good of having a nice house without a decent planet to put it on?” - Thoreau

The flat water sequences were shot at the base of the cliffs at Old Woman Bay (OWB is at the north end of Lake Superior Provincial Park).

We recently got a copy of the book "Bill Mason: Wilderness Artist" after doing a online search. The used book came from a bookstore in the USA.

pretty good guesses. much of tandem was shot on big thompson on the pet.
-little thompson, rollaway etc.
-fw. was mostly old woman bay lake superior.
paul
ps. it is much harder to destroy a canoe in rollaway than you'd think:)

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paul
bubblestreet.ca

There is a short shot of a beautiful waterfall in the Solo Whitewater film. It's in the latter part of the film, and it's right after Bill shows how to lash in paddles and lift a canoe for portaging. Anyone know where this waterfall is?

6 years later ... anyone know where the waterfall is at the end of the Tandem Whitewater film?

Just prior to that they look like they enter into Lake Traverse, is that correct?

Would that waterfall be another river entering into Traverse?